138 research outputs found
Expansion in perfect groups
Let Ga be a subgroup of GL_d(Q) generated by a finite symmetric set S. For an
integer q, denote by Ga_q the subgroup of Ga consisting of the elements that
project to the unit element mod q. We prove that the Cayley graphs of Ga/Ga_q
with respect to the generating set S form a family of expanders when q ranges
over square-free integers with large prime divisors if and only if the
connected component of the Zariski-closure of Ga is perfect.Comment: 62 pages, no figures, revision based on referee's comments: new ideas
are explained in more details in the introduction, typos corrected, results
and proofs unchange
Entropy in Dimension One
This paper completely classifies which numbers arise as the topological
entropy associated to postcritically finite self-maps of the unit interval.
Specifically, a positive real number h is the topological entropy of a
postcritically finite self-map of the unit interval if and only if exp(h) is an
algebraic integer that is at least as large as the absolute value of any of the
conjugates of exp(h); that is, if exp(h) is a weak Perron number. The
postcritically finite map may be chosen to be a polynomial all of whose
critical points are in the interval (0,1). This paper also proves that the weak
Perron numbers are precisely the numbers that arise as exp(h), where h is the
topological entropy associated to ergodic train track representatives of outer
automorphisms of a free group.Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures. This paper was completed by the author before
his death, and was uploaded by Dylan Thurston. A version including endnotes
by John Milnor will appear in the proceedings of the Banff conference on
Frontiers in Complex Dynamic
Expansion in SL_d(Z/qZ), q arbitrary
Let S be a fixed finite symmetric subset of SL_d(Z), and assume that it
generates a Zariski-dense subgroup G. We show that the Cayley graphs of pi_q(G)
with respect to the generating set pi_q(S) form a family of expanders, where
pi_q is the projection map Z->Z/qZ
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